It was fitting and predictable that Theo Walcott's first thoughts on Wednesday night should be for his dad, Don. "He would have died if he hadn't seen it," he said.

As a father and son team, they have proved inseparable – as well as unstoppable – in moving effortlessly up the football pyramid since Walcott first kicked a ball at the relatively late age of 10.

That happened almost a decade ago and, for most of the past five years, Walcott senior and junior have also found themselves accompanied by the expectation that Theo will become one of England’s finest footballers.

Wednesday provided confirmation of that prediction and, even though a ticket mix-up had left Don in a stand full of home fans, he admitted that he found it difficult to contain his emotions.

“I had tears in my eyes,” he said. “I was sitting in among all the Croatia supporters so I had to be careful, but I was so proud. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. David Beckham has been great with him – he’s an absolute gentleman. I’ve had a feeling for a while that something big might be around the corner.”

The Walcotts’ footballing journey began in 1999 after the family moved to Compton, a village in Berkshire. A friend had asked Theo to make up the numbers in a school match and he promptly scored a hat-trick in his first game. Pace was always his main asset and the simple tactic of playing balls behind the opponents’ defence resulted in him scoring 100 goals in 35 games during his first season with AFC Newbury.

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At the age of 10, the power in his shot was also already sufficient to break the finger of an adult family friend who went in goal during a pre-match warm-up. His natural footballing talent, though, came as a surprise to his family. Neither Don nor mother Lynn, a midwife, were exceptionally sporty, though his sister, Hollie, is a former county netball player. He also has a brother, Ashley.

His early goalscoring feats meant he was briefly recruited by Swindon Town, before rejecting the chance to join Chelsea at the age of 11 and instead opting for Southampton. He was spotted by Malcolm Elias when playing on a six-a-side pitch in Berkshire.

“He had raw pace and was beating people for fun,” said Elias, now the head of academy recruitment at Liverpool. “You didn’t need to be a genius to believe he was special. He and his dad are Liverpool fans – the house was covered in Liverpool colours. I have ended up at his favourite club and so, from a selfish point of view, to see him at Liverpool would be wonderful.”

Walcott texted Elias after the match on Wednesday, and his former mentor said the player still saw himself as a central striker.

With Don, an RAF administrator, reorganising his work schedule so he could get up at 4 am for the early shift in order to be at home to cook dinner and drive the two-hour round trip for training, Theo excelled at Southampton.

Don would video his matches and they would study the evidence in search of every possible improvement. At school, he predictably excelled in PE, lowering the school record to 11.52 sec for the 100 metres.

“He was very, very gifted, but extremely self-effacing,” said Andy Colling, his teacher at The Downs School. “We announced in assembly that he had played for England Schoolboys and he just looked embarrassed. I followed the game on the internet on Wednesday and it was fantastic. Theo was back last year to present sports kits and he was exactly the same.”

At Southampton Walcott was wanted by every visiting scout, but his basic style, demeanour and temperament were already ingrained. By the age of 15, top clubs across Europe as well as England were making inquiries. Indeed, Southampton became so concerned by the prospect of losing him that they even asked the local media not to run stories about their prized asset. The secret, though, was out and he had already agreed a boot deal with Nike before his 16th birthday.

Since then, his progress has often been questioned, but he has continued to break record after record. At 16 years, 143 days, he was Southampton’s youngest player. A £12?million transfer to Arsenal was the highest for a 16-year-old, while now the youngest England player is also the youngest to score a hat-trick for England.

Off the pitch, he has also found stability with Melanie Slade, his girlfriend of about three years and his long-time agent, Warwick Horton of Key Sports Management.

Wayne Rooney, his predecessor as the most talked-about teenager in British football, is certainly happy to stand aside. “I’ve not seen anyone as quick as him,” he said. “He scored a goal in training the other week and when he gets going he’s just unbelievable.

“It’s probably something different to what we’ve had for the past four years because he’s got frightening pace, that probably frees it up in the middle for players like myself. He’s got his feet on the ground, speaks well and handles himself well.”

Five others who burst on to the England scene:

Sir Tom Finney: Began his England career with a goal in a 7-2 thrashing of Northern Ireland and then scored twice against Italy. He later hit a hat-trick in a 5-3 defeat of Portugal.

Jimmy Greaves: Exploded on to the scene, scoring on his debut as a 19-year-old. He hit six hat-tricks and scored seven times in the 1961 Home Internationals when he was 21.

Paul Gascoigne: The most inspirational performer in Italia 90, but a self-inflicted injury in the 1991 FA Cup final meant that, one revival in Euro 96 apart, his was a downhill path.

Michael Owen: His goal as an 18-year-old against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup announced the arrival of a star, but he has seldom produced his best in major tournaments.

Wayne Rooney: Dynamic leader of England’s attack in Euro 2004, when still a teenager. Has not fulfilled that promise, either for his club or country, but time is very much on his side.